South Korea is reinforcing its defence against North Korea including executing a new warfare plan against its weapons of mass destruction and deploying new cruise missiles capable of striking any North Korean location, officials said Wednesday.

The Defence Ministry said it would unveil the new long-range missiles within the week.

“We have developed and deployed a cruise missile system with world-class precision and destructive force that can strike any location in North Korea,” Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

The plan was unveiled one day after the North conducted a third nuclear test which highlighted the critical gap in its defence between the two Koreas.

The efficacy of the South’s missile capabilities is said to be limited against North Korea’s mobile targets. North Korea is thought to be operating about 100 mobile missile launch systems nationwide.

“In order to achieve real-time realisation of such missile capabilities, the so-called kill chain system capable of immediate target detection, identification and strike will quickly be established.”

Regarding concerns of the South’ readiness against mobile launch systems, Kim said that detection of such equipment would be possible in a wartime situation as Seoul and its allies would “concentrate a diverse range of equipment.”

Kim added that the kill chain system would be established immediately using South Korean and US military assets, the 800-kilometer-range ballistic missile development would be sped up, and the country’s missile defence system would be further developed.

In addition to the missile-related plans, Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin revealed Tuesday that a high-resolution military satellite would be put into orbit by 2021.

While the military puts various plans for shoring up missile defences into motion, calls for more fundamental countermeasures was raised in the political arena.

“We need to persuade the US that it is unavoidable for us to secure a minimum self-defence capability (against nuclear weapons) if North Korea arms itself with nuclear weapons,” said Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party.

The seven-term lawmaker has been one of the most outspoken proponent of securing nuclear deterrent capabilities, and has in the past raised the possibility of requesting the US to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in the South.

“We now face a situation that requires a fundamental solution. It is now clear that North Korea’s nuclear (ambitions) can’t be removed through diplomacy.”

He added that the US seems to believe that a nuclear-armed Pyongyang can be neutralised with conventional weaponry, but that self-reliant defence and nuclear deterrent were keys to avoiding total devastation of the peninsula in a wartime situation.

Strategic Studies Institute(Army)
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College publishes national security and strategic research and analysis which serves to influence policy debate and bridge the gap between Military and Academia.